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1129323

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to (a) make an assessment of the level of attacks on retail workers and (b) review the effectiveness of sanctions for perpetrators of such attacks.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259437
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government recognises the devastating impact that violence and abuse can have, not only for victims, but also for businesses, and the wider community. This is why it is vital that we continue to work closely with retailers, the police and others to tackle these crimes.</p><p>The Home Office Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS) is a survey of the extent of crime against business premises in England and Wales and includes a specific focus on crimes against wholesale and retail premises. Compared to the 2016 survey results, the 2017 CVS showed a statistically significant increase in assaults and threats (up from 524 incidents per 1,000 premises to 1,433 incidents per 1,000 premises).</p><p>To address this issue I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies and retailers and oversees a range of work to tackle retail crime, including violence and abuse towards shop workers.</p><p>In addition, on 5 April the Home Office launched a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop staff. The aim of this work is to strengthen our understanding of the issue, including how existing legislation is being applied. The call for evidence closes on 28 June.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 10/06/2019 15:49:06 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129312

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Charities: Plastic Bags
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to encourage charities to (a) stop using plastic bags to collect charity donations and (b) explore alternatives.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259431
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December last year, sets out our plans to reduce plastic pollution and move towards a more circular economy. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste.</p><p>Following a public consultation in 2017, the Fundraising Regulator strengthened its Code of Practice, requiring charitable house to house collectors not to post collection bags to properties that indicate they do not wish to receive them, thus reducing the distribution of unwanted charity collection bags. The Waste and Resources Action Programme has also produced guidance to help local authorities and textiles collectors such as charities, waste management companies and textile merchants increase textile reuse and recycling and reduce the amount of textiles being disposed of in residual waste.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 10/06/2019 10:43:58 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129321

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Forests: Conservation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to improve protection and preservation of ancient woodlands as part of future national planning policy.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259435
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>Defra officials are working with the Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government to produce the National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG) to support the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published last year. The NPPF strengthens protection of ancient woodland, meeting one of the Government’s manifesto commitments. The NPPG will be published shortly. The planning framework and guidance will reflect the importance of strengthened protection of ancient woodlands, ancient trees and veteran trees and is a significant milestone in strengthening the protection of this irreplaceable habitat.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 10/06/2019 13:57:45 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129317

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Tibet: Human Rights and Political Prisoners
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps the Government is taking with the Chinese Government to help (a) secure the release of Tibetan political prisoners, (b) ensure access by independent observers to Tibet and (c) protect the human rights of the Tibetan people.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) including restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, and restrictions on freedom of assembly and association.</p><p> </p><p>We consistently urge China to respect all fundamental rights across the People's Republic of China, including in Tibet, in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party. We believe that long-term stability in Tibet will be best achieved through respect for universal human rights and genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the Chinese constitution. Meaningful dialogue is the best way to address and resolve the underlying grievances and we continue to urge all sides to restart talks.</p><p> </p><p>Further, the UK is active in raising Tibet in multilateral fora. We made a statement at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2018 where we reiterated our concerns over restrictions on civil and political freedoms, particularly minority rights, and freedom of religion in China, including Tibet. Additionally, we asked an advanced question about Tibet at China’s last Universal Periodic Review, and included our concerns in our statement.</p><p> </p><p>We are also aware of, and concerned by, reports of the apparent increasing isolation of TAR through restrictions on foreign tourists, journalists and officials (including those representing the UN and EU) seeking to visit TAR. To this end, we are monitoring the progress and impact of the US Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, including through discussions with our US counterparts</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 11/06/2019 13:00:14 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1128955

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
	answering dept id	17
	answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
	answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
	hansard heading	Antibiotics: Rivers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the concentration of antibiotics in UK rivers.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259425
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The United Kingdom’s national action plan for antimicrobial resistance (AMR), published on 24 January 2019, takes a fully integrated and comprehensive One-Health approach for tackling AMR, and includes challenging five-year commitments across human and animal health, agriculture, the environment and food.</p><p>Without more research into AMR in the environment we cannot design effective interventions to minimise risk and protect public health, food production and natural ecosystems. The national action plan therefore includes commitments to deepen our understanding about AMR in the environment, including a specific commitment to explore the establishment of a river catchment-based research programme with clear standards for sample collection, analysis and review, with the aim of delivering AMR monitoring data that can be used to evaluate existing management interventions and inform new policy initiatives.</p><p>The Environment Agency is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and water companies to undertake an extensive programme of investigations to assess a wide range of chemicals entering rivers through wastewater treatment works. As part of this programme, levels of four antibiotics have been monitored in treated sewage effluent in order to quantify levels. The choice of antibiotics was based on the levels of prescription and environmental toxicity studies. Outputs will inform the development of future policy and regulatory decisions.</p><p>The Department is establishing a UK AMR national action plan delivery board which will drive and oversee delivery of this work.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency South Ribble answering member printed Seema Kennedy question first answered 06/06/2019 13:21:36 answering member 4455 label Biography information for Seema Kennedy
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129325

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Whirlpool Corporation: Tumble Dryers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many members of the public contacted the Office for Product Safety and Standards as a result of its review of Whirlpool’s handling of its tumble dryer safety issue announced in November 2015.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259438
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has received just over 7,000 emails from members of the public in relation to its review of Whirlpool’s actions, arising from a Which? correspondence campaign and a further five not initiated by the Which? campaign.</p><p>In the current phase of its ongoing investigation, OPSS is following up with individual consumers who have provided relevant information to ensure that any evidence they hold can be recorded and analysed as incident data. This includes where information has referred to us by third parties, including from the consumer group Which?.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 259439 question first answered 06/06/2019 13:00:36 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129327

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Whirlpool Corporation: Tumble Dryers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how correspondence sent to the Office for Product Safety and Standards by members of the public as a result of its review of Whirlpool’s handling of its tumble dryer safety issue announced in November 2015 was taken into account as part of that inquiry’s final report.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259439
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has received just over 7,000 emails from members of the public in relation to its review of Whirlpool’s actions, arising from a Which? correspondence campaign and a further five not initiated by the Which? campaign.</p><p>In the current phase of its ongoing investigation, OPSS is following up with individual consumers who have provided relevant information to ensure that any evidence they hold can be recorded and analysed as incident data. This includes where information has referred to us by third parties, including from the consumer group Which?.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 259438 question first answered 06/06/2019 13:00:36 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129328

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Tumble Dryers: Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to Whirlpool’s handling of its tumble dryer safety issue and concerns about its repair programme, what steps his Department is taking to help protect consumers from the fire risks of tumble dryers.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259440
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of consumers and I have personally been involved in issues related to Whirlpool tumble dryers since my appointment.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was tasked with reviewing the effectiveness of Whirlpool’s technical modification and the adequacy of its consumer outreach Programme, and that review was published on 4th April.</p><p> </p><p>OPSS issued a Decision Letter setting out the requirements that Whirlpool must take to improve its management of risk and its communications with customers on 2nd April. Whirlpool were given 28 days to respond setting out the actions they will take.</p><p> </p><p>The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 provides powers to deal with goods to ensure the safety of consumers and OPSS will continue to take appropriate steps to hold Whirlpool to account and will continue to be actively engaged in respect of the Whirlpool tumble dryer safety issue.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:57:48 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129340

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Refrigerators: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Office for Product Safety and Standards has plans to implement the new CENELEC refrigerating appliances standard.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259441
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/06/2019 answer text <p>Adoption of a CENELEC standard as a British standard is a matter for the British Standardisation Institution (BSI). BSI published the revised CENELEC standard as the British Standard on 31 March 2019. The use of standards generally is voluntary. As a reference to the CENELEC standard has not been published in the Official Journal by the European Commission, it cannot give presumption of conformity with requirements of the legislation.</p><p> </p><p>The Government continues to work with BSI and other stakeholders such as the London Fire Brigade at international level to further enhance safety standards and drive up best practice. However, business must comply with the essential safety requirements of the legislation.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 11/06/2019 15:58:00 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1129074

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Transport
	answering dept id	27
	answering dept short name	Transport
	answering dept sort name	Transport
	hansard heading	Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many roads managed by Highways England as part of the Strategic Road Network have illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
	tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
	uin	259426
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>Highways England’s Air Quality Strategy published in August 2017, sets out the company’s actions to improve air quality on the strategic road network. This supports the Government’s Air Quality Plan for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in UK (2017), which established the Government’s commitment to improve air quality on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).</p><p> </p><p>Highways England’s Delivery Plan 2018-2019, published in July 2018, provides an update on progress and this year’s Delivery Plan with a further update will be published this summer.</p><p> </p><p>Highways England have agreed with the Department for Transport a programme of work to assess and deliver improvements in air quality on the SRN, with a focus on 101 SRN road links which have been identified by Government’s Pollution Climate Mapping (PCM) model as exceeding NO2 limit values.</p><p> </p><p>Highways England are analysing these road links through their programme of work to identify what measures can be implemented to deliver compliance as quickly as possible. The total number of roads affected will be lower, as some roads have more than one link in exceedance along the whole route.</p><p>We anticipate that the programme of improvement activity will be published later this year, once the appropriate links have been assessed and mitigation measures identified.</p> answering member constituency Northampton North answering member printed Michael Ellis grouped question UIN 259427 question first answered 06/06/2019 12:55:02 answering member 4116 label Biography information for Sir Michael Ellis
	tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel